Black History Month is upon us, and I am reflecting on how to celebrate progress while engaging with key issues plaguing the African American community. Last year I jotted a few thoughts here, and I am back with a few bloggers sharing their opinions. I asked one of my 6th graders "What does BHM mean to you?" Her unfiltered thoughts:

“When black history month comes around, what do we think of? Usually it’s always Rosa parks, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, etc. They are important, but this is a whole new generation. We appreciate all the things they have done for the black community, but we should start recognizing the young black men and boys that are killed on the streets everyday. This is a big issue in the African-American community and we need to start celebrating and recognizing that their lives matter. It started with Emmett Till who was killed with no justice, and it continues with other black boys. If we can prove to the world that this is important, maybe the injustice will stop. On the news there is always violence going on because of the pain people are feeling. These young boys should have statues, memorials because as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks are important so is their memory.”

Abiba

6th Grader & Thinker

From the mouth babes! Abiba's response reminded me that the children are watching! I certainly don't want to cultivate students who view black history month as praise for past heroes. I also don't want to use black history month as a history cram. I am fortunate to have a district curriculum that includes diverse perspectives and an opportunity to celebrate African American history throughout the year, but this hasn't always been the case, and isn't the case for teachers throughout the country. For any topic, especially this one, I think it's critical to share the past in relation to the present and future. It is my hope that students will not come to me tired of the(ir) past, but rather inspired and poised to have an impact.The Past (Africa - 1970s):

The list to the left is by NO means all inclusive. Creating a "list" was difficult because there are so many ideas and pathways to celebrate the tremendous accomplishments of Africans and Americans(I purposefully separated the terms). I tried to pull out time periods, influential people, and events. To engage with topics, I've compiled some project ideas which include:
- Create mini-timelines for a time period.
- Provide biographical information about important people.
- Draw or paint portraits of important people and events and write a short bio

- Research the key contributions of Divine Nine fraternities and sororities.
- Create a mini-documentary about a time period.

- Pick a decade in history and in addition to the music of that time period, research its significance to
politics and culture, the social justice context of the music and the genre’s influence on dance and
clothing styles.

The Present (1980s- Today):

- Compare and contrast the philosophies of people during a specific time period (e.g. Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B Dubois).
- Organize a black film festival for the school. Create a program and a schedule and show films
throughout the month of February and beyond.
- Discuss bias and stereotypes in films and clips.
- Read articles about a topic (Black Lives Matter) with different view points and analyze which author presents a stronger argument
- Review census data, collect and analyze statistics and create graphs and infographics which
illustrate housing patterns (Chicago is a great start).

Be the Change:

I wholeheartedly know that our country has made tremendous progress. I know that I am standing on the shoulders of giants, and value their contributions to the movement to end inequity. That said, anyone who believes that we live in a post-racial period is not paying attention. If you're not paying attention, you're not learning. Regardless of the population that teachers serve, we must present multiple perspectives and expose students to current events. If not I wonder how we'll ever move forward, and get beyond Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The active participants in the Civil Rights Movement set the charge and got the ball rolling and we can't be passive. The list to the left provides ideas for taking an active approach during Black History Month so that students think about the world we live in. There is so much we can learn from that past to prevent history from repeating itself. Watching the news is a real testament to the need for more relevant ongoing conversations and reflections about race and class with our students. If not, I fear we will continue to see incidents like this, this, this and this.